Johnnie Ponzie, business consultant

Johnnie Ponzie, a retired business consultant and former longtime Ednor Gardens resident, died Dec. 8 of a heart attack at his home in Whitesboro, N.J. He was 66.

The son of a railroader and a homemaker, Johnnie Ponzie was born in Pine Bluff, Ark., and later moved to New York City and Whitesboro, where he graduated from Cape May County, N.J., public schools.

He was a 1969 graduate of Cheyney State College, now Cheyney University, in West Chester, Pa., where he earned a bachelor's degree in education. He later returned to Cheyney and earned a master's degree in business.

Mr. Ponzie taught in Philadelphia public schools for a decade before going to work for Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon Division in Somerville, N.J.

During the 1980s, he was a vice president at Chicken George, the Baltimore fast-food chain.

He later joined Alexander Proudfoot, a consulting firm, where he advised businesses and government agencies on how to improve human resources and efficiency.

He retired in 2007 and moved to Whitesboro two years ago, where he was active in several Cape May County organizations.

"He was president of the Cape Human Resources Board of Directors and volunteered for Whitesboro Concerned Citizens," said Penny Demps, his longtime companion, who is the public relations director of the Herald of Hope Theater Company in Silver Spring. "He also organized the annual Return to Whitesboro reunion."

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church, Route 9 and Main Street, Whitesboro.

In addition to Ms. Demps, Mr. Ponzie is survived by his son, Damon R. Ponzie of Orlando, Fla.; and two half-sisters, Arlene Chase and Muriel Chase of Far Rockaway, N.Y.